Pakistanis pray outside a mosque in Karachi. (AFP)

Islamabad, Aug 5 (PTI): The Pakistan Navy has moved its main battleships out of the Mehran naval base in Karachi to the Makran coast in Balochistan.

It claimed that there were “all-time high security threats” in Karachi.

The warships were sent away from their main base in Karachi to Ormara in Balochistan as a “precautionary measure”. It comes after the 16-hour terrorist siege of its main naval airbase, PNS Mehran, on May 22, the Express Tribune newspaper quoted its sources as saying.

During the siege, two P3C Orion airplanes — which were prized naval assets — were destroyed and the 10 security personnel were killed.

Since that attack, the main battleships have been stationed in Ormara, sources told the daily.

The navy chief ordered the immediate shifting of the entire fleet after the attack on PNS Mehran in view of the “all-time high security threats, which continue to loom even today”, an unnamed person familiar with the matter said.

The attack on Mehran was carried out just weeks after three navy buses were bombed in Karachi on April 26 and April 28. However, another unnamed senior navy official said not the entire fleet but “definitely quite a few” warships had been moved to Ormara for security reasons.

However, Karachi remains secure as there are other naval assets in place to guard the city, he said.

A Pakistan Navy spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, saying the navy does not speak on “operational details”.

Senior retired navy and air force officials welcomed the move and described the navy chief’s decision as “pragmatic” and “positive”.

Retired Vice-Admiral Tanvir Ahmed said one of the golden rules in warfare, especially when facing a threat from an unknown enemy, is to disperse your assets in as many bases as possible.

Ahmed said it would be wrong to say that the navy felt so threatened by terrorists that it had to move its warships away from their main harbour in Karachi.

Retired Vice-Admiral Javed Iqbal said there is another important benefit of the move: “Unlike many navy bases in Karachi, such as Mehran, that are in the centre of residential areas, Ormara is a far off base,” he said.